Mohamed Egal switched parties by joining the ruling SYL he once opposed

Evidence

The American embassy noted that “Mohamed Egal, former leader of the SNC, and one of the leading political figures from British Somaliland in the early days of independence, resigned from the Somali National Congress (SNC) and joined the … ruling party. Abdurahman Abby Farah, Acting Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [mistakenly] confirmed to an Embassy officer that Egal made the change at the personal request of President Aden [Osman].” US Department of State, Airgram A-363. Contrary to the embassy’s understanding, Osman was amused by the switch, as he noted in his diary. The opportunistic nature of this move was not lost on the president because Egal had been involved in attempts to subvert government led by the SYL since its beginning. Osman, diary, March 27, 1966. Despite knowing the opportunistic nature of Egal’s move, Osman congratulated Egal when he came to see Osman on April 5 and told him about his joining the SYL. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1447

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Egal’s later return as prime minister and eventual presidency; this party-switch is a step in his political trajectory.